Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for handling a sheet pile in a printing press, including a pile chamber formed with at least one opening which is of a size at least through which the sheet pile is passable in a horizontal direction, a lifting platform disposed in the pile chamber for receiving the sheet pile thereon, a reciprocating drive for vertically adjusting the lifting platform, and a screen assigned to the opening and being adjustable between a first operating condition wherein the screen covers the opening, and a second operating condition wherein the opening is free from being covered by the screen.
Printing presses equipped with such devices have been marketed by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen A. G. under the model designation SM102. The screen encompasses an adjustable bracket which, in a first position, extends crosswise over the opening formed in the pile chamber in the manner of a railing and represents thereat a first operating condition of the screen wherein, at least during the production run, unhindered access to the sheet pile chamber through the opening is blocked by the bracket. Moreover, the screen also encompasses a switch arrangement actuatable by the bracket for stopping the reciprocating drive of the lifting platform. A corresponding actuation of the switch arrangement is effected upon a change from the aforementioned first operating condition of the screen to a second operating condition thereof, specifically by shifting the bracket into a position thereof wherein the opening is not covered by the screen.
This conventional screen is provided whenever the printing press is mounted on a foundation projecting above the level of the floor at the location at which the printing press is installed and permits longer adjusting paths of the lifting platform and, consequently, higher sheet piles to be handled than is possible with an installation which is flat on the floor.
In the printing presses equipped with a conventional screen, sheet pile handling is effected, through the intermediary of manual lift carriages or the like, by a conveyor or feeder actuated by a machine operator.